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Fires damage house, apartment

Grand Junction firefighters set up fans Friday to remove smoke lingering in a bottom floor apartment of a fourplex at 561 Garfield Drive, after a fire started in a living room couch. No one was home at the time, and the cause has been ruled accidental, according to Mike Page, spokesman for the Grand Junction Fire Department.

By {screen_name}
Friday, January 13, 2012

A pair of fires that occurred about a mile and an hour apart from each other severely damaged a home and an apartment in eastern Grand Junction on Friday.

The first fire was reported at 12:43 p.m. at 561 Garfield Drive, No. 4, according to the Grand Junction Fire Department.

Crews found heavy smoke coming from one of the units of a four-unit apartment complex. They entered the apartment and quickly extinguished the fire.

At the same time, they evacuated the one person who was in another of the apartments, Fire Department spokesman Mike Page said.

Officials said they found a battery charger for a remote-control car plugged in and sitting on a living room couch in the area where the fire started. Investigators have ruled the fire accidental but still are investigating the exact cause, Page said.

The two people who live in the apartment where the fire broke out were not home at the time of the fire. The Western Colorado chapter of the American Red Cross was called to assist them because the apartment won’t be inhabitable for some time, Page said.

The second fire was reported at 1:48 p.m. at 2844 1/2 Texas Ave.

Crews found flames in both the home and an adjacent shed and used two hose lines to quickly extinguish the fire.

A father, a small child and two cats escaped unharmed. Firefighters rescued two dogs that were uninjured, Page said.

The shed is considered a total loss, and the house had smoke and heat damage throughout and heavy structural damage in a bedroom. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Page said.